Beyond the Dome

Is McCain for real? He acts like Obama is part of the Viet Cong. Can someone please remind McCain that he doesn't have to behave like a Prisoner of War anymore! I think they need to do another psychological check on him. Something is fundamentally not right with his coconut.

It isn't contempt, precisely, it is disgust at his own inability to beat the man. McCain is ashamed he is losing. And he can not face the man who is beating him...at least not in a civilized way.

McCain is obviously a sore loser-- which may explain his insistence that U.S. troops remain in Iraq until we achieve "victory--" however he defines THAT.

McCain Feels Uncomfortable Amongst All People Of Color & Often Scare Whites By Being Preoccupied & Bothered By Obama. Then, McCain Creates A Gwen Ifill Dilemma For More Underhanded Racism As Noted In The Upcoming VP Debate, Noted As Follows:

DON'T ALLOW THE RIGHT WING DINGER ANTI-GOD ETHNIC HATERS SABOTAGE THE VP DEBATE & SWIM IN THE MCCAIN S**T TANK, What they really are saying about Gwen Ifill as a moderator: she is another scary black partisan and she is in the african american tank for Obama = Palin & Whites don't have a chance in this debate.
If you are going to implicate Gwen Ifill and her book as being in the Obama tank then everyone must report the fact that The #1 National Debate Sponsor is Anheuser-Busch Companies (BUDWEISER)~Isn't there a strong association/connection here, to Cindy McCain? YES!
www(dot)debates(dot)org/pages/natspons(dot)html

Why would the media be in the McCain tank, reporting that Gwen Ifill was writing an Obama book and wouldn't be a fair moderator when Cindy McCain and her Company are the #1 Debate Sponsor, therefore placing the entire debate in the McCain tank....come on.......Cindy's Golden Rule: She with the gold, makes the rules. It's a bit funny how much darker Obama and the wood on his podium were for the first debate compared to the coloring of McManiac and his podium. Newsmax, along with many GOP PACS & 527s are emailing and calling everyone for donations to atomic bomb the public through all sources of media & press about terrible and horrific untruths about Barack Obama. Republicans will do anything to win, even if they loose. Everyone must be hyper-focused on McCain's Campaign Associations.:
www(dot)mccainslobbyists(dot)com

Obama will be the first Black American President.
McCain just realized that he will be the first to lose to a Black Presidential candidate.

Josh Marshall's post at Talking Points Memo linking to this was titled "Weak, Weak, Weak..." And that got me thinking: The McCain campaign has made repeated references to "Blinking...", "Not blinking..." You know, you've got to look your opponent (enemy, foe) in the eye, face to face, before you can say you haven't blinked. It's a sports analogy (and probably by extension a warfare one, as well); it's third down and 10 yards to go, and you're staring down some guy that's got 50+ pounds on you, but you've got that psych-rush thing going, we've gotten this far, we know we're gonna score, and what you're putting out is: "Buddy, you're goin' DOWN..." It's the same in baseball, basketball, soccer, any team sport (although I never played hockey) - if you can't look 'em in the eye, and project confidence, you're sunk...

Isn't politics a contact sport?

Grace, has always been McCains handicap. It is interesting that MCcAIN will be all huggy bears with G.W. BUSH despite the viscious attacks Bush has utilized on McCAIN IN THE PAST. Here, p[olitical expediancy won out, requiring MCcain to take advantage of the necessary Rove operatives within his own campaign team. It says a great deal about McCain that he will be a ll lovey dovey with the scabs who have controlled the right and whom he has needed to get where he is on the presidential ticket. One would think it would be easier to at least show a modicum of congeniality to the opponent who has not even scorched McCain with any kind of incendiary attacks as Bush and Co. HAVE.

This is just the latest in a series of shameful begavior..this goes against senate tradition for sure. I'm posting a link to Rolling Stone; they're running a cover story about McCain that is enlightening, to say the least. Seems like this magazine and Vanity Fair are pretty much the only ones where you can read fearless reporting. I'm sure Obama knows what kind of effect he has on McCain, thus the good sportsmanship. Nothing like heaping coals on your enemy's head!! I love it!

http://www.rollingstone.com/

John McCain is truly making this harder on himself.

Though I truly disliked Reagan, on a policy and administration level, I found some of his personal qualities admirable. He was able to at least put on a nice face and greet his adversaries, which comes from years of being an actor. Let's not forget that he was an okay actor...but a horrible President.

Oh please, this is just one person's observations, I'll bet if you ask 10 other people you'll get 10 other versions.

The article is completely worthless

I wouldn't be friendly toward Obama either. He's radical socialist who is trying to royally eff up this country for good. Put that dupe in the White House and we'll be further down the path of global irrelevance and destitution.

Yeah, just one person's observations...worthless...and by extension any article based on one person's observations is worthless. In fact, any personal interpretation, whether written, spoken, mimed, or performed as an interpretive dance, is worthless. Why should we care what someone saw and what they thought about it, someone else might see it differently so I don't want to hear any of it.

Obama is not a radical socialist, he isn't a socialist of any kind, he's a filthy greed-driven capitalist pig, just like you & your totally "eff up" country.
www.marxist.com(slash)world-capitalism-in-crisis-1(dot)htm

I wouldnt even be able to be in the same room as Obama. With his ties to Acorn, Rezco, and Raines and partial blame of this bailout fiasco falls upon the fact that Obama helped sue banks on ACORNS behalf in order to force subprime mortgages. Add the msm huge multi million dollar donations to the obama campaign including google, youtube,msnbc,nbc,cnn I could go on and on. The Obamagestapo's brainwashing and thugging of others using the law is obvious to anyone who is still indecisive on a vote. The Obama campaign did the same public destruction to Hillary. Obama is a dishonest man who constantly tries to one-up others and likes to change his platform constantly-ya I agree with McCain-Instead of being nice to Obama-Id want to punch him in his face.

Considering Obama had ripped into one of McCain's friends whom he was talking to (Lieberman) for not defending Barry as much as Barry thought he should its not a big surprise there would be an icy reception. Not to mention that Barry has used every moment of the bailout business to play politics. First it was that McCain deserved no credit for the bailout agreement the house did have, then he said he never called anyone and wondered why he would bother calling republicans where as McCain called both. They've also had run ins in the past and being McCain is not one to hide how he feels.

This is the final confirmation - JOHN MCCAIN IS A MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE !!!!!!!!!

"Go Away" is about the only feeling I could come up with if approached by Obama as well.

McCain/Palin '08

Zaggs, a correction here... McCain is not the Manchurian Candidate. McCain is the MUNCHKINIAN Candidate...

Look, this is not so complicated, and it really has nothing to do with each man's politics or the passion of his beliefs.

A handshake, a smile, a bit of harmless small talk -- these are things that happen in city council races and state senate races all over the country, even among people who don't like each other. It's a normal, civil gesture.

It does mean something to me that Sen. Obama made this traditional friendly gesture, and it does seem a bit odd that Sen. McCain wouldn't respond in kind.

Sorry... Lodge4..., a correction here... McCain is not the Manchurian Candidate. McCain is the MUNCHKINIAN Candidate...

@JimmyMac: Obama is a "radical socialist?" The bar for "radical socialist" must be extremely low these days--maybe a tick or two to the left of Mussolini?

Here's a helpful link so you can learn up on what socialism is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Euthyfro & JimmyMac;

The old Internet world would call you two TROLLS, for you are both ridiculous--wonder if you are being paid to make these 'looney tunes' smears.

Understand this, having headhunted senior execs up to CEO's, COO's and CFO's---body language and social manner and basic interpersonal interactions are enormous in judging the basic character of potential leaders. McCain is a dangerous person. He takes things quite personal, and not being able to be basically courteous in a public setting demonstrates personal contempt toward Obama. In the interviews when questioned about the obvious dissonance between his stated words and proposed tenor of his campaign and the results of his sophomoric even mendacity laden advertisements that failed the basic smell test and embarrassed him and his campaign, he suddenly changed his body language and blamed Obama for not agreeing to his unilateral initiative as to how to campaign.

McCain is a dangerous personality however it has come about. Palin is an absolute intellectual vacuum where she has short term communication skills and stage presence but once one pierces her veneer her utter lack of intellectual depth is exposed.

Neither possess an ability to self-examine their own flaws or shortcomings which again is a enormous liability in leadership.

That all said---JimmyMac what is socialism? And for euthyfro the ironic twist is that Rezko will actually poison another IL Governor not Obama. Your thoughts are so shallow that they quickly turn into muddy plains.

Is there video of the encounter?

actually, guys, what mccain lacks and always has is a little thing called class. from his stepford meets dynasty wife to his uncomfortable smirk during the first debate, he has shown himself to be completely without class, grace or even the most base sense of appropriate behavior.

I am an american living in europe and I must tell you that, since a couple of you mentioned how electing obama would put us "on the path to global irrevelance", you just flat out don't have any idea what you're talking about. the WORLD is waiting for obama. every newspaper, every television transmission, every public opinion poll in any of our ally countries shows that electing obama would, in fact, put us on the path to regaining the respect of the world.

because right now, with his snap (and painfully bad) judgement along with his (clearly) nasty temper, mccain is looking like the scariest candidate in 50 years.

Say you know of a colleague that has lied, cheated and hurt people....you're in the same club, but you don't "know" that colleague. Then you have reason to "debate" and "discuss" and opine opposite his positions. Why in the world would you be required to smile, look at the jerk and shake his hand? I wouldn't but you can see that after the torture McCain went through shaking the hand of that type of individual is something he can handle. Smile and hugs are just not in the agenda.

Of course, now, Obama can say he "crossed" the aisle to the other side. Heh!

yeah, sharinlite. that's what we want in the oval office. someone who is so hotheaded that he can't even feign respect for someone who does not share his beliefs.

can't wait to see the first photo op with mccain and putin or medvedev. or scarier: jong-il. he'll be snubbing handshakes and making enemies where there there were, once, only adversaries, all over the world.

and thanks for making the best case yet as to why his POW experience makes him completely unfit to run the white house. it's made him a shoot first, ask questions later (as evidenced by his "campaign suspension" to cure the economic ills of the country. which failed miserably.) type of.....I can't even use the word leader...person that this country would be better off leaving in a veteran's home somewhere.

preferably one of those which mccain tried to pull funding for.

delfuego - I agree. They both strike me as asocial personalities, but for different reasons.

McCain has widely acknowledged anger issues. I can't think of another recent candidate who has had so many of his acquaintences, even people who like him in other respects, say that his inability to control his rage is such an issue that it disqualifies him for the office of president.

And these are people who have known him for decades.

Palin strikes me as a true narcissist. She has shown the narcissist's inability to show true empathy in her treatment of her children, especially her pregnant 17 yr old daughter and her new infant. She has also shown this lack of empathy in her treatment of others who she perceived herself having power over. Her firing of anyone who disagrees with her, such as the Wasilla librarian. Her vendettas against any who oppose her. Troopergate.

She also has a narcissist's finely honed social skills. Narcissists replace empathy, which they are incapable of, with a precisely controlled persona of what they perceive to be the most socially acceptable facade in order to control their environment and relationships.

Most of the energy that other people invest in relating to other people and engaging the world, narcissists invest in projecting their facade and controlling everything to get their way.

Because they have no true empathy, they see no need for anyone else to get what they want or need, nobody else's needs are as real to them as their own needs are.

This is also why her issue knowledge is so superficial. The only knowledge she perceives as being necessary is what will get her what she wants: status and control. Real depth of knowledge wouldn't even occur to her as being desirable.

So when Couric asked her what papers she read, Palin answered in the way she perceived would show her credibility according to her worldview, i.e. it is a good reflection to be seen as being well read, so she said she's read everything. When cornered for specifics, she used her well honed skills to turn the question into a rebuttal of a non-existent attack on Alaska, intended to put Couric on the defensive and change the subject from what she reads to why Couric would imply that Alaskans don't get the same news as the rest of the country.

This answer probably would have worked, probably has worked, in the local realm she is used to, On the national level, it does not work. Couric didn't respond to the attack, she let Palin twist in the wind. Palin probably didn't get that this answer simply made it look like she doesn't use any deliberation in seeking out knowledge.

She did the same with her answer to the Supreme Court question. The anxwer not only showed her lack of knowledge about truly significant Court decisions, it showed her skill at looking completely non-confrontational even as she turned it into the often contentious question of state's rights, a conservative hot button.

This is why she's good at debates; deflecting and protecting her persona are of vital importamce in her daily life. They are essentiasl behaviors to the narcissist.

She may have to practice showing knowledge about issues, but she needs no practice projecting an image, or turning any question back as an attack on anyone she perceives as an enemy - that's where the majority of her energy is always spent in her daily life, because everyone is a potential threat to a narcissist and NOTHING is as imoportant as getting their own way. They consider that the ultimate deal breaker in every situation.

It never ocurred to her to turn down running for VP, she is certain that she is entitled and capable. She will never examine or doubt her choices. Anyone who questions her will be an enemy forever.

McCain is a hothead with no class. As Churchill once wrote "When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."

What this really shows about McCain is his amazing diplomatic skills! This is the kind of man we want for President! Someone who will not lower himself to be polite and diplomatic to people that he dislikes.

Sheesh.

Sen. McCain's treatment of Sen. Obama should come as no surprise if looked at from a biological view of primate behavior.

Sen. McCain is behaving much like Pres. Clinton did towards Sen. Obama... both are older ALPHA males who have dominated the political field for 20 years. They both treat Obama as older alpha males do when younger alpha males challenge them for power over the pack. "Beat it!" behavior is normal.

Only when Bush, the younger alpha male, challenged & won top dog did McCain do the usual subordinate hug & shrug.

Sen. Clinton, however, was able to not only look Obama in the eye while debating him, she was also able to hug & shrug... even while slipping in the ever-present stiletto so he wouldn't feel it. Also normal behavior for alpha females.

Now can CQ editors get on with what is important to the citizens of our great nation... how sufficient tax revenue will be raised to pay for the HUGE budget that was submitted. A budget that is bloated with military spending requested by the DOD/Pentagon - full of 'pork' for military contractors. Speaking of Welfare Kings!!!

MomsHugs (blog: momshugs.blogspot.com)

After McCain escaped his jet on the burning deck of the USS Forrestal, even though he was uninjured, he went below decks to the ready room and watched as his crewmates fought the fire, burned to death, and tried to save each other.

Every officer on a ship has multiple duties, one is as a damage control officer. McCain did nothing while his ship burned and his crewmates died, including those who died trying to save others.

Then McCain took R&R and transferred off the ship.

This was right before he was captured and aided the enemy.

To those who defend McCain I have ponly one question: exactly how bad does he have to get before you admit he is not worthy of being president?

Instead you parrot fake scandals about Obama.

Hey guys -- Several people have asked if any videos or photos exist of the handshake. I'm checking, but so far, the answer is probably not.

Only C-SPAN gets to do videos of the Senate floor, and that's always a wide shot during the votes, so the only way you'd see it would have been somewhere in the background. (This was during the first vote of the night, on a rail safety bill.) And still photos, I'm told, are only allowed on special occasions such as State of the Union addresses and joint sessions.

But yes, anyone who's looking to confirm (or knock down) my account should check other sources. You may have to rely on the print media, though, since we seem to be the only ones who had front-row seats to watch the encounter from the press gallery. I haven't checked all of the other accounts, but here's what the New York Times said about it: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/not-so-secret-handshake/

"Sen. McCain is behaving much like Pres. Clinton did towards Sen. Obama... both are older ALPHA males who have dominated the political field for 20 years. They both treat Obama as older alpha males do when younger alpha males challenge them for power over the pack. "Beat it!" behavior is normal."

Actually, you're exactly wrong - read what an actual primatologist has to say about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frans-de-waal/nervous-old-male_b_129903.html

I'm Oback Arama and I'm running for President. I am fed up with you right wing nuts who keep saying that I have no executive experience. I will list below several of my important executive positions:

I am the only candidate who has wartime presidential experience. I was President of the Harvard Law Review during the 1991-1992 Gulf War, and my opposition to that war brought a quick end to that war when George Bush followed my usual strategy, and withdrew the troops. I will use that executive experience to oppose things and withdraw things things when I become your President.

As an executive community organizer in Chicago, I opposed mid range missiles in Europe, suppported the nuclear freeze, and opposed the Strategic Defense Initiative. My executive opposition to those misguided policies ultimately resulted in the elimination of communism in Eastern Europe and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

I was the executive chairman of a committee in the Illinois Senate where I courageously opposed and killed a misguided and dangerous bill that would have given children the right to medical care, if accidently born alive during an abortion. This would have been scientifically unsound in that what we are dealing with in this case are simply products of conception. Just because blobs of tissue are breathing, and have a beating heart, is no reason to give them health care. I'm in favor of universal, single payer, Cuban style,
free to all healthcare, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I have emphatically voted (four times) to oppose health care for accidently born children, and that is what I know you will recognize as executive decision making of Presidential quality.

I am currently the powerful "executive" chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: European Affairs. As the leader of that committee I have made the significant executive decision to not have any meetings up until now. I realize that if I have no meetings I cannot vote "present", or even yes or no, but I have shown beyond a doubt that I can decisively implement a no meeting decision, and to the best of my knowledge, no meetings have occurred. I'm pretty sure of that but I've been campaigning for the last 20 months so you never know.

These are just a few of my high executive positions and should be adequate to convince you to vote for me.

I'm Oback Arama and that's why I'm running for President.

Not certain why anyone would be suprised that McSame is so rude. It is an obvious reaction to his feelings (and rightfully so) of inadequacy. And if that isn't enough, did a couple of you on here not watch last Friday's debate? He was so condesending, arrogant, and superior acting he refused to look Barrack in the eyes. Not a man I want to run the country, and yes, after 5 years in solitary confinement, he does need intense and ongoing psychotherepy, as suggested in an earlier comment.

Evan Murdock - Thank you for that link since I'm not usually lurking on HuffingtonPost (so much to read, so little time).

Dr. de Waal, Emery Prof. of ethology, is known for his study of BEE communication (in fact dubbing it "dance language") & his investigating techniques of “Fixed Action Pattern” (FAB).

There are many other biologists & ethologists that may agree or disagree with Dr. de Waal's alpha male analysis. However, the closest mammal to humans in DNA (99%) is the chimpanzee & Jane Goodall is the most well known for her studies (Dr. de Waal wrote about her work in "Nature" in 2005).

My statement about Sen. McCain's rather obvious alpha male behavior toward Sen. Obama (also that of Pres. Clinton - an UBER alpha male) was simple for comments such as these. It was not intended to be a treatise on the nuances of fixed alpha behavior patterns (FAB's). However, I would agree with Dr. de Waal that McCain's alpha behavior is that of a distinctly INSECURE male in the process of being challenged by a younger - perhaps stronger - alpha male. Obama already challenged Sen. Biden, who lost & is now supporting him.

Evan, you actually made my point by focusing on Dr. de Waal's article. Our nation & these candidates need to focus on where exactly are the revenues going to come from to pay the 2009 bloated budget + bailout guarantees???